• Readers Rally Team:

    This club is limited to 4th and 5th grade proficient readers.  Members will read from a specified list of books between September and February. A final group of 10 members will be selected by the last meeting date in December.  A maximum of 10 players may attend the county competition that will take place in February/March of the school year on the date determined by Media Services at GCPS.

    Sponsors of this Team 

    Kelly Gruhn, Carol Ward, Allison Quevedo, Robin Bertone, Charlotte Machette, and Karen Kregel. 

Readers Rally Book List 2020-202120

  •  Book Cover for Watchdog

    Watchdog

    by Will McIntosh Year Published: 2017

    Thirteen-year-old twins Vick and Tara have built an incredible machine--a loyal robotic watchdog named Daisy. But, when local crime boss Ms. Alba schemes to add Daisy to her robot army, Vick and Tara must go to great lengths to protect their prized pet. Because Daisy is more than just any robot--she's their constant protector, and together the three make a great team.

    Vick and Tara are determined to stop the mob from tearing their little family apart. And they might just succeed! Sure, the evil Ms. Alba has more robot watchdogs, but none are as smart--or as faithful--as their Daisy. Plus, if things get too dangerous, Tara could always upgrade their pet. With her mechanical skills, she could make Daisy bigger, stronger, and a lot more intimidating! 

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  •  Book Cover for Watch Hollow

    Watch Hollow

    by Gregory Funaro Year Published: 2019

    Deep within the enchanted woods in the town of Watch Hollow stands the once-grand Blackford House, whose halls hold a magical secret: a giant cuckoo clock that does much more than tell time. But when the clock’s gears cease to turn, an evil presence lurking among the trees begins to come out of the shadows.

    When Lucy and Oliver Tinker arrive in Watch Hollow, they have no idea that anything is wrong. A mysterious stranger has made their father an offer that’s too good for him to refuse. All Mr. Tinker needs to do is fix the clock at Blackford House and fistfuls of gold coins are his to keep.

    It doesn’t take long, however, for the children to realize that there is more to Blackford House than meets the eye. And before they can entirely understand the strange world they’ve stumbled into, Lucy and Oliver must join forces with a host of magical clock animals to defeat the Garr—a vicious monster that not only wants Blackford House for itself, but also seeks to destroy everything the Tinkers hold dear.

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  •  Book Cover for Tiny Stitches

    Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas

    by Gwendolyn Hooks Year Published: 2016

    Vivien Thomas's greatest dream was to attend college to study medicine. But after the stock market crashed in 1929, Vivien lost all his savings. Then he heard about a job opening at the Vanderbilt University medical school under the supervision of Dr. Alfred Blalock. Vivien knew that the all-white school would never admit him as a student, but he hoped working there meant he was getting closer to his dream. 

    As Dr. Blalock's research assistant, Vivien learned surgical techniques. In 1943, Vivien was asked to help Dr. Helen Taussig find a cure for children with a specific heart defect. After months of experimenting, Vivien developed a procedure that was used for the first successful open-heart surgery on a child. Afterward, Dr. Blalock and Dr. Taussig announced their innovative new surgical technique, the Blalock-Taussig shunt. Vivien's name did not appear in the report.

    Overcoming racism and resistance from his colleagues, Vivien ushered in a new era of medicine children's heart surgery. Tiny Stitches is the compelling story of this incredible pioneer in medicine.

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  • Sweep : The Story of a Girl and Her Monster

    by Jonathan Auxier Year Published: 2017

     For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on "climbing boys"--orphans owned by chimney sweeps--to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless and brutally dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived--and a girl. With her wits and will, she's managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again.

    But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead, she wakes to find herself in an abandoned attic. And she is not alone. Huddled in the corner is a mysterious creature--a golem--made from ash and coal. This is the creature that saved her from the fire.

    Sweep is the story of a girl and her monster. Together, these two outcasts carve out a life together--saving one another in the process.

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  •  Book cover for Sgt. Reckless

    Sergeant Reckless : The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero

    by Patricia McCormick Year Published: 2017

    When a group of US Marines fighting in the Korean War found a bedraggled mare, they wondered if she could be trained to as a packhorse. They had no idea that the skinny, underfed horse had one of the biggest and bravest hearts they’d ever known. And one of the biggest appetites!

    Soon Reckless showed herself more than willing to carry ammunition too heavy for the soldiers to haul. As cannons thundered and shells flew through the air, she marched into battle—again and again—becoming the only animal ever to officially hold military rank—becoming Sgt. Reckless—and receive two Purple Hearts.

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  •  Book cover for Saving Fiona

    Saving Fiona: The Story of the World's Most Famous Baby Hippo

    by Thane Maynard Year Published: 2018

    On a cold January day in 2017, nearly two months before her due date, Nile hippopotamus Bibi gave her keepers at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden a big (little) surprise - a tiny newborn hippo, no bigger than a football.  The first premature hippo born and raised in captivity, baby Fiona was an underdog from the start:  she couldn't nurse, she couldn't stay hydrated, and she wasn't thriving. But the staff at the zoo knew they could save her.  It would take creative thinking and teamwork. They would have to study the makeup of hippo milk for the first time ever and reach out to medical colleagues, including a team at the local Children's Hospital with superior vein-finding skills,  to ensure that Fiona would begin to gain weight and become healthy. When Fiona began to thrive, her star began to rise, and soon she became an internet sensation, her picture and videos garnering thousands and thousands of likes and fans on Instagram and Facebook.  Now a Fiona appearance at the Zoo mimics a Beatles concert.  What made this little, now big, hippo such a big hit with people all over the world?  And what's in store for her and her family in the future?

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  •  Book Cover for Restart

    Restart

    by Gordon Korman Year Published: 2017

    Chase's memory just went out the window. 

    Chase doesn't remember falling off the roof. He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again . . . starting with his own name. 

    He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return. 

    Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of him.

    One girl, in particular, is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head the first chance she gets.

    Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is--it's a question of who he was . . . and who he's going to be.

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  •  Book Cover for Me, Frida, and the Peacock Ring

    Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring

    by Angela Cervantes Year Published: 2018

    A room locked for fifty years.

    A valuable peacock ring. A mysterious brother-sister duo. Paloma Marquez is traveling to Mexico City, birthplace of her deceased father, for the very first time. She's hoping that spending time in Mexico will help her unlock memories of the too-brief time they spent together. While in Mexico, Paloma meets Lizzie and Gael, who present her with an irresistible challenge: The siblings want her to help them find a valuable ring that once belonged to beloved Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Finding the ring means a big reward -- and the thanks of all Mexico. What better way to honor her father than returning a priceless piece of jewelry that once belonged to his favorite artist!

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  •  Book Cover for Lifeboat 12

    Lifeboat 12

    by Susan Hood Year Published: 2018

    This novel in verse based on true events tells the story of a boy’s harrowing experience on a lifeboat after surviving a torpedo attack during World War II.

    With Nazis bombing London every night, it’s time for thirteen-year-old Ken to escape. He suspects his stepmother is glad to see him go, but his dad says he’s one of the lucky ones—one of ninety boys and girls to ship out aboard the SS City of Benares to safety in Canada.

    Life aboard the luxury ship is grand—nine-course meals, new friends, and a life far from the bombs, rations, and his stepmum’s glare. And after five days at sea, the ship’s officers announce that they’re out of danger.

    They’re wrong. Late that night, an explosion hurls Ken from his bunk. They’ve been hit. Torpedoed! The Benares is sinking fast. Terrified, Ken scrambles aboard Lifeboat 12 with five other boys. Will they get away? Will they survive?

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  •  Book Cover for Insignificant Life of a Cactus

    Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

    by Dusti Bowling Year Published: 2017

    Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.

    Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

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  •  Book Cover for Fuzzy

    Fuzzy

    by Tom Angleberger & Paul Dellinger Year Published: 2016

    When Max—Maxine Zealster—befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, part of Vanguard One Middle School’s new Robot Integration Program, she helps him learn everything he needs to know about surviving middle school—the good, the bad, and the really, really, ugly. Little do they know that surviving sixth grade is going to become a true matter of life and death, because Vanguard has an evil presence at its heart: a digital student evaluation system named BARBARA that might be taking its mission to shape the perfect student to extremes!

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  •  Book Cover for Elephant Theif

    Elephant Thief, The

    by Jane Kerr Year Published: 2017

    When pickpocket Danny accidentally bids for Maharajah the elephant at an Edinburgh auction, he's swept up on an unforgettable journey.

    His new employer, a zookeeper, transforms Danny into a bejewelled Indian prince. As he rides Maharajah from Scotland to his new home in England, even Queen Victoria follows their journey with delight. But a rival zookeeper wagers on their failure, and soon Danny's shady connections threaten to overturn the mission

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  •  Book Cover for Calico Girl

    Calico Girl

    by Jerdine Nolen Year Published: 2017

    Twelve-year-old Callie Wilcomb and her family are slaves, and the Civil War gives them hope that freedom may be on the horizon. On May 23, 1861, the State of Virginia ratified their vote to secede from the Union. In Virginia, a window was opened where the laws of the land no longer applied. Because of the Contraband Law, slaves no longer had to be returned to their owners, granting them a measure of protection and safety. With the possibility of Callie and her family escaping their bonds forever, Callie is eager to learn and become educated and hopes to teach others one day. Through hardship and loss—with love and strong family ties—Callie proves that freedom is in her stars.

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  •  Book Cover of Blended

    Blended

    by Sharon Draper Year Published: 2018

     "You’re so exotic!” “You look so unusual.” “But what are you really?” Eleven-year-old Isabella is used to these kinds of comments - her father is black, her mother is white - but that doesn't mean she likes them. And now that her parents are divorced (and getting along WORSE than ever), Isabella feels more like a push-me-pull-me toy. 

    One week she’s Isabella with her dad, his girlfriend Anastasia, and her son Darren living in a fancy house where they are one of the only black families in the neighborhood. The next week she’s Izzy with her mom and her boyfriend John-Mark in a small, not-so-fancy house that she loves. Being split between Mom and Dad is more than switching houses, switching nicknames, switching backpacks: it’s also about switching identities. If you’re only seen as half of this and half of that, how can you ever feel whole?

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  •  Book cover for Arlo Finch

    Arlo Finch

    by John August Year Published: 2018

    Arlo Finch thought becoming a Ranger meant learning wilderness skills, like camping and knots. But upon arriving in the tiny town of Pine Mountain, Colorado, Arlo soon learns there's so much more. His new friends Indra and Wu teach him how to harness the wild magi seeping in from the mysterious Long Woods - a parallel realm of wonder and danger.

    First he must master the basics, including snaplights, thunderclaps, and identifying supernatural creatures. But Arlo Finch is no ordinary Ranger, and this is no ordinary time. A dark and ancient force is sending threats into the real world...our world. And whatever it is has its sights set on Arlo.

    Through perilous adventures and close calls, Arlo is awakened to his unique destiny - but the obstacles he faces will test the very foundations of the Ranger's Vow: loyalty, bravery, kindness, and truth.

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